Taiwan readies further easing on Chinese investment

There’s further agreements bubbling from both sides of the Strait, as Taiwan readies itself to go easier on Chinese technology investments.

Chinese companies may be able to own a 10 percent chunk of share in Taiwanese semiconductor and flat-panel manufacturers, according to reports from the Central News Agency.

That would include global powerhouses in the semiconductor industry such as TSMC.

For companies nested in segments viewed as “less sensitive,” reports AFP, Chinese investors will be able to take up to a 20 percent slice of the pie. Metallurgical and medical equipment industries will be included.

Taiwanese manufacturers like AU Optronics and Chimei Innolux, both who churn out flat panels on a heavy scale, will be glad of the news, having appealed for less restrictions across the Strait for some time. Restrictions had already been eased somewhat, thanks to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which has seen Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs take half a step back on investments.

AU Optronics, for example, has already been told it can set up with a 7.5G manufacturing plant in China. There’s also a “five year plan” that Beijing has in place, particularly focusing on a cloud computing push, which Taiwan’s VIA has signed up to.

Meanwhile, China, Japan and South Korea could be penned in for an investment deal this coming May – marking a positive end to an ongoing series of negotiatians and talks from 2007. This would be the first trilateral agreement of its kind, with Japan keen to muscle in.

Taiwan has put in an estimated US $150 billion to the mainland since controls were first relaxed in 1991. According to AFP, as of December, Chinese companies had placed $US 131.83 million into Taiwan’s coffers.

There are doubts. Chen Yunlin, Chairman at the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, reportedly said that the negotiations are “no good”.